A number of systems and accounting methods have bee3n developed to manage financial data for retail outlets or stores. Determining the optimal selection of retail goods requires monitoring and detailed analysis of cost as well as the ability to process large quantities of data.
Traditional retail accounting methods match the items shipped to a store to the items sold by a store during a given period. However, items shipped to a store during a given time period are not necessarily equal to the items sold by a store during that time. Consequently, traditional retail accounting methods may artificially increase or decrease costs. There is a need for a system that provides for a true accounting of the cost of goods sold by determining gross profit based upon the items actually sold rather than the items delivered to a store.